“There’s a lot of throwing up on vans,” Luchsinger, a junior, said. “But only one last semester while I was driving.”
These LIMO drivers can be seen throughout campus between 5 p.m. and 3 a.m. as they chauffeur their peers from place to place.
The Local Intercampus Mobile Operation is run primarily by full-time students, with the exception of two people. Sgt. Dan Kolosovsky of the Department of Public Safety is one of two full-time non-student employees involved with the LIMO program.
“The program is here to be extra sets of eyes and ears for public safety,” Kolosovsky said. “We can’t put a number on the number of incidences that have been prevented because of (student safety programs).”
Students who telephone into the operation have their call answered by a dispatcher located in the DPS office at 749 N. 16th St.
The dispatcher relays the message to the drivers through radio communication, and the driver closest or least busy answers the call and drives students anywhere within a five-mile radius of Marquette, Kolosovsky said.
There are, however, occasional complaints about the response time of the vans.
“Students need to understand that it’s student safety, not student speedy,” Kolosovsky said.
Any student may apply to be a part of the student safety program. Prospective LIMO drivers are first given a preliminary LIMO test drive to gauge their driving skills and general road safety knowledge. Afterward they go through orientation in a classroom setting. Potential drivers then enroll in a road course requiring each person to gain experience behind the wheel of a LIMO.
The final step in becoming a LIMO driver is hands-on training in one of the vans during an actual shift.
Nearly all routes and duties expected of a driver are scripted. Each van is required to follow a certain route and follow strict protocol on each action the driver takes, including how and where a LIMO pulls up to the curb.
The system has been in operation since August 1985, when one van was used for various purposes. Today there are 12 vans in operation.